Marty Jannetty
Now called simply The Rockers, Jannetty and Michaels popularity carried over from their stint in the AWA and the team was often called "tag team specialists" by commentator Gorilla Monsoon. They made their WWF debut at a TV taping on June 18, 1988 and they faced tag teams such as Demolition, The Hart Foundation, and the Brain Busters for the rest of 1989. Despite their previous success, The Rockers never officially won the Tag Team Championship during their three-year run together in the WWF. In October 1990, The Rockers were scheduled to win the titles from The Hart Foundation due to Jim Neidhart, one-half of the championship team, being in the process of negotiating his release from the company. The match was taped with The Rockers fairly winning the belts, but soon after, Neidhart came to a stop-gap agreement with management and was rehired. The belts were returned to the Harts a week later, while the change was never broadcast or even acknowledged on TV. When news spread, WWF explained that the original result was void due to a collapsed turnbuckle in the ring during the bout. Jannetty returned in October 1992, challenging Michaels to a match at the 1993 Royal Rumble. Jannetty lost after interference by Sensational Sherri backfired. It was planned for the two to continue their feud, but Jannetty was released again after appearing under drug influence the following night on Monday Night Raw. Jannetty returned once again in May 1993, challenging Michaels for the Intercontinental Championship after appearing out of the crowd on Monday Night Raw. Jannetty won the title that night, but lost it back to Michaels just a few weeks later due to interference from Michaels' bodyguard Diesel. Throughout the summer of 1993, Jannetty feuded with Doink the Clown, eventually winning the program with a final best of three falls match on Monday Night Raw. Jannetty then formed a tag team with the 1-2-3 Kid, with the two being the winners and survivors of their match at Survivor Series. Jannetty would win the Tag Team Championship with the 1-2-3 Kid from The Quebecers (Jacques and Pierre) on the January 10 edition of Monday Night Raw. However, they lost it back a week later at Madison Square Garden at a non-televised event when 1-2-3 Kid was pinned following an assisted senton. A clip of the finish of the match aired on the 1994 Royal Rumble video. In the lead up to WrestleMania X, the court case brought forward by Charles Austin was heard. While neither the WWF or Jannetty admitted that it was the outcome of this case which resulted in Jannetty's sudden disappearance from the promotion, it has never been denied either. Jannetty then vanished from the mainstream wrestling scene until mid-1995 when he made several appearances in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). Later that year, just months after Michaels made a shocking face turn that got him over, Jannetty returned to the WWF in September 1995. He continued to wrestle as a face, despite bad blood between he and Michaels that had carried over in the storylines. Jannetty teamed with Razor Ramon during November and December in a feud with Sycho Sid and the now heel 1-2-3 Kid. It was a popular, but short-lived, feud and once it had ended Jannetty seemed to lose his way. In 1996, Jannetty made a heel turn by joining Leif Cassidy (a portmanteau of the names of teen idols Leif Garrett and David Cassidy) and the two formed "The New Rockers", but were not successful in gaining the Tag Team Titles. Jannetty interfered unsuccessfully in a singles match between Michaels and Cassidy, then challenged Michaels for his WWF Title with Michaels emerging victorious. Jannetty left the WWF following Survivor Series after asking for a contract release as he was unhappy with the team's lack of success and management's refusal to split them up. On the March 14 edition of Raw, Jannetty returned for a one-time-only reunion with his former tag team partner Shawn Michaels against La Résistance (Sylvain Grenier and Rob Conway). Jannetty scored the win for his team after he used his signarure Rocker Dropper. This was preparation for Jannetty's match with Kurt Angle on that week's SmackDown!, as Angle had challenged Jannetty prior to his WrestleMania 21 match with Shawn Michaels. Angle claimed that since Jannetty had taught Michaels "everything he knows" while part of the Rockers, he could teach Michaels "how to tap out" by forcing Jannetty to submit on SmackDown! Angle made good on his promise and forced Jannetty to submit to his ankle lock submission hold, but only after a nearly twenty minute match and an impressive showing for Jannetty which saw him nearly pin the Olympic champion. WWE soon signed him to a new contract. Due to a domestic incident, however, he was arrested and unable to meet the commitments of his WWE contract, leading to his release on . However according to Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Jannetty was rumored to have been released yet again on September 29. Jannetty himself countered this rumor on his MySpace page, stating it was untrue. The January 2007 issue of WWE Magazine, however, stated that Jannetty had indeed been fired. On December 22, Jannetty replied through his MySpace website, stating that it was The Boogeyman who had been fired and not returned WWE's phone calls and insisted that the article in WWE Magazine was false. In a blog on his website, Jim Ross stated that Marty Jannetty was no longer with WWE on December 24 due to a court order in Florida preventing him from traveling on the road. On the December 3 edition of Raw, Mr. Kennedy, who was feuding with Shawn Michaels at the time, said that he would speak to three individuals who knew Michaels very well as part of a feud between him and Michaels. The three were imposters dressed as Razor Ramon, Diesel, and Jannetty. Along with a fake Michaels, they were all hit with Sweet Chin Music by the real Michaels. The next week on the 15th anniversary of Raw, Jannetty appeared along with Michaels in an interview. Michaels wanted to see what would happen when Kennedy fought the real Jannetty. In the end, he was defeated by Kennedy. On October 19, 2009, Jannetty made an appearance on Raw, losing in a match against The Miz.6